A demonstration called by steel industry trade unions in the Liège area in October 2011 drew thousands. On the town square in Seraing, the crowd roared “All together! All together!” The sound echoed back from the nearby Standard de Liège stadium and from the ArcelorMittal blast furnace, standing idle a little further off. Ten days earlier the steelmaker had said it was closing its hot phase (1) facilities in Liège and nearly 600 jobs were on the line; and eventually the cold phase facilities might also close. Steelmaking, which had driven the regional economy for nearly 200 years, seemed doomed.

however as the article begun:

Liège, the ‘cité ardente’, has undergone considerable change. The disappearance of the mines and decline of the steel industry hit the city hard. But the saying ‘Do as they do in Liège, let it rain’ may no longer apply. For the economic capital of Wallonia, with a population of 200,000, or 600,000 including suburbs, is being reborn. The steel workers are battling to save its last blast furnaces; an underground system, trams and high-speed train station will transform its centre; and its film industry, starting with the Dardenne brothers, is booming. Now the city dreams of hosting host Expo 2017